China's top two players Li Na and Zheng Jie advanced to the second round of the US$600,000 China Open in Beijing yesterday.

But Zheng's double's partner Yan Zi lost in the first round in straight sets to Croatian Jelena Kostanic. There was more bad news for the all-conquering pair as Zheng is unlikely to play with Yan again before the Doha Asian Games in December due to a right ankle injury.

Joining the Chinese players in the second round is defending champion Maria Kirilenko of Russia, who ousted Argentine Gisela Dulko 7-6(7/5), 6-3.

World No 23 Li breezed past qualifier Russian Vera Dushevina in straight sets while Zheng, No 33, went through the pain barrier to beat Jill Craybas of the United States 6-4, 6-3.

Despite not playing her best, seventh seed Li still managed to beat the Russian 6-3, 6-4 in a one and a half hour first round encounter.

"It wasn't as easy as the score showed. Actually, I felt very sluggish and lacked consistency at the baseline" said Li.

"Playing on my home court makes me a bit nervous, but it's OK, I know the first match of every tournament is hard and I am happy to make it through."

Finishing the 2005 season ranked 35, the Hubei native has given China a lot to cheer for this year. She became the first Chinese ever to reach a Grand Slam singles quarter-final and also scored a national ranking record, rising to No 20 in July.

The aggressive Li belted an uncharacteristic 15 unforced errors, but hit 30 winners during the match. Her opponent had seven unforced errors.

Li was broken at love in the first game, but she hit back with interest, taking three breaks to jump to a 5-1 lead. Despite another break she closed out the set 6-3.

The second set featured yet more unconvincing serving, with three break points for Li and two for Dushevina. But Li proved better on those crucial occasions, winning the set 6-4 to claim victory.

Wild card Yan committed 20 unforced errors to suffer a straight-set defeat to Kostanic.

The 25-year-old Croatian, who entered the main draw through three rounds of qualification, needed one hour and 25 minutes to subdue the 100-ranked Yan 7-5, 6-2.

"The opponent controlled the game. I had many chances but failed to take advantage of them," said Yan.

"I lost patience when I led 4-2 (in the opening set) and wasn't careful enough the rest of the game."

Kostanic broke Yan five times from 12 opportunities, while doubles specialist Yan only managed two breaks.

Kostanic will next meet Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. The Russian won her third Wismilak International trophy in Bali, Indonesia last week.

Yan will continue to partner Zheng in the doubles this tournament, aiming to improve on their second place last year.

After the China Open, Zheng will take a long rest and stay in Beijing to recover from injury.

The pair, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles titles this year, will probably take part in the year-ending WTA championships in Madrid before the Asian Games.

"I will continue to play and will partner a foreign player in the next few months," Yan said.

The 23-year-old Zheng, playing in her third China Open, is likely to play against former world No 1 Lindsey Davenport of the United States who meets Anna Chakzetadze of Russia today.

A total of four Chinese have booked their spots in the 16-player second round. Peng Shuai and Athen doubles gold medallist Sun Tiantian won their first-round matches on Monday.

(China Daily September 20, 2006)